Jacques Tourneur directs Simone Simon, Tom Conway and Jane Randolph in this classic horror where a man marries a mysterious beauty – scared of sex, violently jealous and possibly able to turn into a panther when threatened.

Birthplace of the jump scare. Horror was changed permanently by the unexpected arrival of that bus. The rest of the film is more atmospheric melodrama than thrill fest… exploring the misogynistic but trendy form of psychoanalysis Hitch was equally obsessed with. It is only in the final twenty minutes the beast is loose and you start to fear for all involved. Yet the stand-out sequences still hold up: the pet shop going wild, the recognition between two fellow Serbian cats, the lonely pavement stalk, the swimming pool menace, the cornering of our unfaithful leads, the staircase finale. For a talky 70 minute film, there are deceptive chunks of creepy set-pieces.

8

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/